Document shredding devices of the present invention can be placed on a wall of a bin or a waste receptacle, such that the document shredding devices hang on the wall over a waste collection area inside the waste receptacle. Shredded pieces of documents exiting the document shredding devices fall into the waste receptacle for collection. Existing document shredders are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,724,766; 4,973,004; D375,973; and pending application Ser. No. 08/720,579 filed Oct. 2, 1996.
The mechanism for shredding documents, such as sheets of paper, fed into the shredders can be derived from the above cited utility patents, and also from U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,897.
Some small personal shredders are sold without shredder baskets and must rely on waste paper baskets normally found in the office or in the home. These waste paper baskets come in all shapes and sizes. In European countries waste paper baskets are typically round; while, in the United States many waste paper baskets are square or rectangular in shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,766 describes a shredder having oppositely arranged retaining and supporting portions which can be adjusted in length to accommodate different size waste paper baskets. The supporting portions have generally square cut, straight channels for receiving edges of the waste paper basket. U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,004 describes a paper shredder that is supportable on a waste receptacle and includes a clamping device to grip one edge of the waste receptacle. A generally rectangular cut groove is provided for this purpose. U.S. Design Pat. No. D375,973 also describes in its figures a generally straight channel for receiving edges of a waste receptacle.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/720,579 discloses a housing including a support arm arrangement for a basket mounted paper shredder wherein the support arms have curved or rounded outside perimeters and at least one of the support arms has a curved or rounded inside support rib arrangement to more closely conform to a rounded waste paper basket. The support arms extend out of opposite sides of the housing, and allows the paper shredder to be mounted to both round and rectangular waste paper baskets.
In view of the existing paper shredders, it would be an advantage to have a new paper shredder which can be mounted on different waste receptacles, such as square, rectangular and round shaped waste baskets. A further advantage would be to provide such paper shredders with a mounting support which extends from only one side of the paper shredder and supports the shredder on the waste receptacle. Another advantage would be to provide new paper shredders having incrementally adjustable supports which extend from the shredder housings and are adjustable in incremental steps.